Letter: Squad president defends response to carjacking

The Millburn Police Department's timeline shows police, Millburn-Short Hills Volunteer First Aid Squad members and paramedics started medical aid for Dustin Friedland within minutes of receiving a call of his shooting. The reports of some media that it took a half hour for an ambulance to arrive are wrong.

When someone calls 9-1-1, a police dispatcher quickly assesses the situation and determines what resources are needed. On the day of the shooting, an officer on patrol at the mall was on scene in about one minute after the 9-1-1 call. The officer was a trained emergency medical technician. The officer also needed to make sure the scene was safe before medical responders could enter.

Within 10 minutes, paramedics responding from Overlook Hospital and a member of the Millburn-Short Hills Volunteer First Aid Squad, were on scene treating Mr. Friedland. The balance of the squad arrived five minutes later in the ambulance.

Since the height of the garage was too low for access by a standard sized ambulance, the crew rushed a stretcher loaded with equipment to the victim. From the moments after his shooting, Mr. Friedland was in the care of highly trained people who stabilized him prior to being transported to the nearest trauma center.

Last year, Millburn-Short Hills Volunteer First Aid Squad responded to nearly 1,500 calls. We are more than 60 volunteers strong and are trained EMTs certified by the State of NJ. We are supported entirely through donors who make our important work possible. The members of the Millburn Short Hills Volunteer First Aid Squad are saddened that the actions of the responders that December night could not save Mr. Friedland.